Flavor is rich and roasty, with huge chocolate character dominating. Dark berry notes underlie a roast malt body that's given the impression of sweetness from the chocolate, but finishes roasty and a touch dry. Nuttiness emerges in the aftertaste. There's a touch of an acrid character that is slightly offputting.

Body is moderate to slightly full, but is velvety smooth and creamy, with slightly low carbonation, and a touch of alcohol warmth.

Very rich brew with nice balance of roast and nutty malt characters. Chocolate and oats dominate, which is somewhat unusual, considering the proliferation of coffee dominant stouts.

More User Reviews:

A: The beer is nearly jet black in color—traces of amber are visible near the edges of the glass when it is held up to the light. The beer poured with a finger high head that died down very slowly.S: There are aromas of semisweet chocolate morsels in the nose.T: The overall taste has a moderate amount of sweetness with flavors of chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. There are some hints of bitterness from the hops in the finish.M: It feels medium-bodied and very smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.O: This is an easy drinking stout because it’s relatively light-bodied for the style and doesn’t have that much alcohol content.

Pours a dark black with a bit of a bit of a dark tan head. Nose brings forward a good amount of roasted malt, a tad bit of smoke, molasses, and hints of coffee. The roast really stands out in the taste, which is really enhanced by the really nice and creamy mouthfeel this brings forward. Drinks really well and is one of the best American versions of the style that I have had.

Pours an opaque black with a 1 inch foamy dark khaki head that settles to a small cap. Foamy broken rings of lace form on the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, toasted oats, and some slight cocoa aromas. Taste is of dark roasted malt, toasted oats, and some coffee bean and cocoa flavors on the finish. There is a mild roasty bitterness that quickly fades after each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a light carbonation and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a solid oatmeal stout and one of my favorite Anderson Valley beers.

i have a soft spot for this one, its one of the beers that got me into the style, and one i always go back to when comparing and thinking hard about an oatmeal stout. maybe its not the best one out there, in fact, it definitely isnt, but i think its one of the truest to style around thats regularly available, and its a darn fine glass of ale, a good measuring stick. slick black look, and slick roasty viscous going down. medium sized coffee colored head, with cream lighter than coffee, but rich brown and big bubbles and lasting pretty well. sweet nose, almost like a milk stout. thank the oats for that. the flavor is rich with grain character, but the oat sweetness balances bitter roasted barley and specialty dark malts and the harmony is gorgeous and continuing long into the finish. there is even a mild yeast flavor to this, which is uncommon i think is most darker, maltier american beers. its bready and unifying, clean but noticeable. full bodied but i could still happily drink a sixer, in fact i have many times. this beer really made the style for me as a younger beer drinker, and its always a fond experience enjoying one now. emotionally important for me, foundational to my palate.

This is one of the better sweeter stouts I have had in a quite awhile,pours a deep brown not quite black with a nice looking almond colored head.Aroma is very earthy and of bitter chocolatetaiste is lightly sweet but not overpowering by any means with some nice earthiness and french roast coffee.A real nice brew on a cooler day like today,very nice.

Pours a shade of brown so dark that you might mistake this beer as completely black if looked at in a dimly lit room. Brown, oatmeal colored head (ironically enough) sits on top for a while but leaves very little and somewhat spotty patches of lace on the way down. Aroma is sweet, just like an oatmeal stout should be. Sweet, roasted malts, almost reaching the bitter threshold, with hints of coffee. Not picking up a ton of chocolate, mostly just roasted malt and even a bit of creaminess from the oats. Doesn't pack as but of a punch as expected.

Across the palate, this beer is medium bodied with a very nice creamy and smooth texture - something that is imperative to the style and is execute well here. Roasted malts jump out to the front with some heavy coffee bean and oat/grain flavors. Sweetness hangs in the balance, coming off a bit like "cream & sugar", althought maybe not quite that sweet. The malts flirt with the "so heavily roasted it's bitter" line, throwing in maybe just a touch of bitterness to counter the sweetness. Hop flavors aren't very relevant, but they add a bit more ashy bitterness to help with any offset. The aftertaste actually contains a big nuttiness and a little woody note that I can't quite put my finger on. A little strange, not because it's bad, just slightly unexpected, since it wasn't around in the aroma.

Very good oatmeal stout, although I think it may be slightly overrated. Easily drinkable, but there are more flavorable options out there, though this one certainly isn't a bad choice by any means. Worth a shot if you like the style.

I don't get the reviews for this one. I'm not too thrilled with this stout. I've had way better. Black with a small light brown head that doesn't ever fully leave. Sweet smelling with a touch of coffee. Earthy flavors up front.

I never really get a hint of alcohol. Coco, dirt and oats start our smooth then turn bitter leaving me with a coffee like after taste. I felt the mouthfeel was too thin. Glad I tried it, but I don't see myself seeking it out in the future.

This beer poured pitch black dark with an inch or two of light chocolate head. I was disappointed in the aroma- I wasn't getting much but a light, malty odor. The taste proved to be much more impressive, as strong bursts of chocolate and caramel flavor were prevalent. It has a hoppy, bitter taste that is not overpowering, but holds to the tongue. This is not a dry stout, but has a milky mouthfeel without any heaviness that slows down drinkability. I imagine this as a nice sitting-around-at-home beer.

A: This poured a dark brown with thin tan lacing, that is often associated with Stouts.

S: This had coffee, chocolate, and malt on the nose. I could also pick up hints of rasins as well.

T: This was very smooth and balanced. No one flavor seemed over-powering. I have had other Stouts where they seem too malty, or the bitter aftertaste of dark or semi-sweet chocolate dominates.

M: Not as heavy as others of this style, slightly carbonated, just coats the mouth long enough to pick up the main components of the beer.

D: Because it is an Oatmeal Stout that is mellow and balanced, the cream is light enough to have more than one in a session. At 3.99 a bomber it is also reasonably priced. I see more of these in my future.

S: Great oat and malt aromas with nice chocolate and coffee undertones. There are also notes of nuttiness and toasted malt. The alcohol is barely a detectable amongst all of these great aromas. The best thing about this beer is the aroma that acts as the brew's ingredu- ient list.

T: The taste is a perfect translation of the smells. The oatiness and chocolate notes are robust while the coffee and malt accents don't over whelm. There is a little hop at the end of the sip but otherwise smooth and creamy without much bite.

M: I was a little disappointed withe mouthfeel. This brew seemed to be a thin and a little undercarbonated. This category seemed to be the only real weak spot in this brew.

D: This is a highly drinkable stout that went very well with dinner and held up nicely by itself after my dinner was done. Again, the only downside to this beer is that it does lack the heartiness that one may have come to expect in a craft oatmeal stout.

Note: I should mention that the bar manager where I sampled this brew did apologize for not being able to offer this brew via nitro. Apparently those who sample this brew through a nitro tap experience quite a nice mouthfeel with a little more depth than the one that I experienced.

Dark toasted malts prevail again, coming on with a bit of char. Dark chocolate once again. Taste is much more upfront than the aroma and very similar overall. Mild bitterness from the toasted malts finish this one out.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a standard pint glass. Great head, pitch black, nice stout smell. I found this beer to be a touch watery compared to other oatmeal stouts (specifically B.O.R.I.S.), but overall a nice stout that convinced me to try other beers from Anderson Valley Brewery.

I thoroughly enjoyed this oatmeal stout. Very robust, complex, extremely flavourful and textured. In a market of wimpy and nitro'd stouts, this one stands out. However, the $9.99 a 6-pak price tag stood out the most. As much as I liked it, I would not drop that kind of money a second time.

Poured almost black, showed very little head retention,aroma was much weaker than I expected,but then it hit me, a strong thick chocolate and roasted malt taste, the second taste was equally glorious,with a wonderful, wonderful aftertaste. Top notch, will be permanently stocked

Pours a midnight black, not allowing any light to peak through, with a tremendous frothy, light brown head that lingers on and keeps you company throughout the life of the beer. Tremendous lacing. A beauty of a beer to behold!

Taste is, again, very nutty, rich and chocolately, coffee tones, sweetness from the oatmeal and dark malts, some toffeeish and caramel undetones. A slight hop bitterness comes in towards the middle/end and ends of dry. Pure bliss!

Mouthfeel is rich and creamy with the perfect amount of carbonation.

Drinkable? ABSOLUTELY! I could easily take down an entire sixer of these babies in the cold winter by a nice warm fire. Despite, it's heaviness, the drinkability is outstanding. It's so damn tasty, you don't want to stop drinking them. Absolute stunner right here. Anderson Valley are masters of their craft.